Portrait
by damagedSky
Summary: Sketchbook. Portrait. Apollo. Vera. 3


Apollo Justice sat on the desk, a look of concentration on his face. With an elbow on the desk and a hand beneath his chin, he leaned towards the window, a pair of inquisitive eyes staring at the sky as if asking it to tell him the real meaning of happiness.

But, you see, that wasn't the case at all. For right across Apollo, there sat Vera. With a sketch pad in hand and a stoic expression on her face, she seemed as though she was still the same as before her father's death six months ago.

After a few minutes of silence, Apollo spoke up, sparing a glance at his friend from the corner of his eye.

"Vera, can't I take a break? My neck is starting to hurt." He stated, a crinkle in his brow forming. _That and the fact I still have to practice my Chords of Steel! _He silently complained inside his head.

Vera Misham, artist extraordinaire, looked up from her sketch and puffed up her cheeks, a little habit she did when she was annoyed, opposed to her biting of nails. She turned the sketch pad around to show Apollo her work. It was only a rough sketch. You wouldn't even know it was Apollo if it weren't for his hair that was recognizable 20 miles away.

"Polly…" she said softly, borrowing the nickname from Trucy. "I'm not even finished yet." Apollo frowned and turned to look back at the window, grumbling. Vera crossed her arms across her chest. "Besides, it's only been three minutes."

Apollo then replied, quite desperately I might add, "But it feels like forever!"

A small smile appeared on Vera's face. She beamed at Apollo. "Fine then, I can finish it from here anyway." She reasoned. She couldn't really deny the young attorney anything. After all, it was all because of him that she was finally free from the devil's spell.

Apollo grinned back. He then gave a good long stretch before putting his feet on the table. "Thanks Vera." He said, placing his hand behind his head. "I needed that."

He closed his eyes, wishing to take a nap, when a thought occurred to him.

He cracked open a lid to find Vera already engrossed in her work. He cleared her throat rather loudly just to get her attention. "Say…" he drawled, "Why do you want to draw a picture of me anyway?" he asked.

A faint red hue dusted her cheeks as she averted her eyes from him. "It's a school project…" she whispered, but loud enough so Apollo could hear. He had this look of confusion on his face before he remembered that Vera went and enrolled herself at Ivy U. She was taking Fine Arts, which wasn't really surprising.

"Ah…" he said, accepting the answer, though he now wondered what kind of project it was.

It was another 20 minutes before Vera was finally satisfied with her work. She set the sketch pad down and walked over to where Apollo was still sleeping soundly. A small smile made its way to her lips. The setting sun outside the window cast Apollo in this ethereal look, and Vera knew she could never catch anything this beautiful on paper.

One of his bangs fell across his face and without thinking, Vera brushed it back up. He looked so innocent when he was sleeping, like he had nothing to fear. But Vera knew somewhere there; he was scared about the things going on around him. He was only 23 after all. He was still young. But he had the courage to face all that.

She owed him a lot because he was the one who gave some of that courage to her.

"Vera?" she looked back to find the well-renowned ex-attorney staring her down, placing a bag full of groceries down the table.

She made a small _eep! _before quickly making her way to the door. "M-mr. Wright!" she stuttered, flustered hands waving in front of her. "I-I was just…" she reached the door and pulled it open, stepping outside as quickly as possible, "I was just leaving." She finally finished, slamming the door before running off, her face having a resemblance to a tomato.

Phoenix stared at the door for quite some time before shrugging and making his way to the sleeping Apollo. He knocked on his apprentice on the forehead, forcing him awake.

The would-be-famous-attorney fell back on the swivel chair in surprise, making him fall on his back in the process. "Ouch…" he muttered, "Wha--? Vera?" he asked, wondering if she was the one who did that, though he highly doubted it the moment he laid his eyes on Phoenix Wright.

Phoenix glanced at him briefly, before turning his attention back to yet another box of DVD's Maya Fey had sent for him. "Oh, she just left in a hurry." He said and jabbed a thumb towards the couch where Vera was sitting just a few minutes ago. "I think she left something of hers."

Apollo squinted at the couch, to find her sketch pad.

He stood up, stretched and walked over and grabbed the sketch pad. He looked it over and a light blush appeared o his cheeks as he stared down at the portrait Vera drew of him. It was really good, and when I meant good, I mean _good._

The portrait itself was nothing special, you could easily tell it was Apollo. His eyes, his hair, even the little spikes on his eyebrows. They were all taken in almost perfect detail. It looked more like a picture than a painting. A simple black and white photo that didn't need any words to express the feelings depicted in it.

For when Apollo stared down at the sketch, he felt in every fiber of his body that Vera put all her heart and soul in that portrait. And well, he might just be feeling the exact same way. His heart started pounding a little louder and faster too when he saw by the bottom right hand corner the title of this magnificent masterpiece.

_My Hero: Apollo Justice_

A low whistle beside his ear made him turn his head suddenly to find Phoenix Wright having a look at the picture himself. He then turned to Apollo, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Well, get going then." He said, almost in a teasing tone. Apollo tried to ignore it. "Get going where?" he asked. Phoenix smiled wider before pushing Apollo out the door, "To Vera's of course." Before Apollo could protest, Phoenix slammed the door in his face.

Apollo sighed. He doubted Phoenix would open the door for him again, and he didn't feel like going back to his apartment. Looking down once more at the sketch pad in his hand, he decided, he really should return it to her.

A bus ride and a few short walks was all it took to get to Vera's apartment. She left the Drew studios awhile back. The place only reminded her of all the forgeries she's done in her life, literally and metaphorically speaking.

Apollo stood outside her door, his left hand holding unto the precious sketch pad, and one hand raised to the door as if to knock. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, _Come on Apollo… you can do this! _He said, inwardly cheering himself on.

To think that only a few months ago, he wanted to rip his hair out because of this girl. She annoyed him because she never spoke. Instead, than give her attention to him, she painted her nails, and look where that got her.

But thinking back, how worried he was when she was brought to the hospital. When she opened her eyes that day, Apollo wept. He hadn't really realized that even when she said so little to him, she already left something for him.

Strengthening his resolve, he closed his eyes and was about to knock when the door suddenly opened. Neither person from either side of the door knew what was happening. All they knew was that their head hurt and that they were sprawled on the floor, tangled together.

Apollo opened his eyes to find Vera pinned below him. He was suddenly frozen on the spot. Vera had this huge blush on her cheeks that made her porcelain skin stand out even more. The fluorescent lighting on the ceiling gave her the chance to truly stand out. Outside, when the sun was bright, Apollo never really had the chance to appreciate her beauty. But here, up close, he could tell that she was beautiful.

"A-apollo…" she stuttered out, her eyes glanced sideward as to avoid the intense stare the young attorney was giving her. Apollo realized his mistake as he stood up, laughing awkwardly as he waited for his companion to stand along side him.

"S-sorry about that…" he said, cursing himself for being nervous.

"It's okay. It was my fault… I shouldn't have rushed out like that…"

Both of them stood there in the hall, looking at everything but each other. At last, Apollo found the courage to actually speak. He held out the hand holding her sketch pad and cleared his throat.

"Um… you left it in the office."

Vera grabbed it, their fingers accidentally making contact with each other. They both felt it, a spark, but both decided not to acknowledge it. Not yet anyway.

"Thanks."

Apollo scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Um… no problem." He said. Vera looked down on the open page and noticed it was the portrait she drew of him. She remembered the reason she was hurrying outside in the first place was to retrieve it from the office.

"I like it."

Vera looked up to find Apollo looking away, an embarrassed look on his face.

"W-what?" Vera asked. The blush on her seemed permanent now that these moments with Apollo keep coming up. Apollo walked over to her and stroked the picture with a calloused thumb. The lead smudged a bit, but it actually added to the effect.

The spiky-horned attorney grinned as he traced the markings on the bracelet. "You even got my bracelet down to pat." Vera smiled, happy that he liked the picture she drew of him.

She smiled, holding a hand up to her chin, "Thank you Apollo." The underlying words were _Thank you, you mean so much to me…_

Apollo watched her closely, his heart pounding at the sight of her smiling. He grabbed on to both her shoulders and Vera's eyes snapped open. She found herself entranced by Apollo's eyes. Her heart strted beating faster and her palms got all sweaty.

A hand came up to his chest. "A-apollo…" she whispered, their eye-contact never wavering.

Apollo just smiled at her and grabbed the hand on his chest and squeezed gently.

"I like it." He repeated. Vera's lips trembled as he leaned in. She felt his hot breath on her face and watched as his eyes come to a close.

"I like you."

He kissed her then.

Vera's never been kissed. That was why she made no effort to kiss back. Her eyes never closed. She only stood shock still at what was happening. The only thing she did was drop her sketch pad on the floor.

Apollo pulled back. He wondered if he did the wrong thing. He wondered if Vera didn't really like him the way he though she liked him. Maybe he was just over-exaggerating the facts and signs he saw. One thing he was sure of though, was that he just made a fool out of himself with something he wasn't even sure of.

He was in love with Vera Misham.

He cast his eyes downwards. Stepping back three feet, he glared at a random picture frame above them. "Sorry…" he mumbled. He knew she was never going to talk to him again. She was probably going to rip that picture of him and submit something else. Maybe a picture of the Gramarye's. Maybe even Trucy. But he was sure it wasn't going to be a picture of him.

Before he could turn around and walk away however, two petite hands held him by the shoulders and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

It wasn't like the kiss he gave. He was an amateur. He was being clumsy, stupid, and being pushy. But that kiss was warm, gentle, and sweet.

Apollo wrapped his arms across Vera's waist as she pulled back and laid her head on his chest.

"I'm glad…" she started, she looked at the picture on the ground and smiled, "…you like it."

Resting his chin on top of her head, he replied, "Yeah, me too."


End file.
